Father’s Day Gift Ideas: Four Affordable Throwback Watches

This is the kind of casual, retro-chic that dads would appreciate. The folks at Oris went through their archives and discovered a pilot’s wristwatch made by then dating back to 1917. Quite a big deal, too, considering that the timepiece was also one of the company’s earliest wristwatches ever. To commemorate the find, Oris painstakingly re-created the original for this 1,917-piece limited edition collection. Except for the movement, which has been upgraded to a Sellita-based automatic calibre, every millimeter of the re-edition carefully replicates the vintage model.

Hamilton Ventura Elvis80 Skeleton Auto – S$2,370

Dads with be crooning Can’t Help Falling In Love to this one. Truly one-of-a-kind, the triangular-shaped Ventura hasn’t aged a bit, despite turning 60 this year. Made famous by Elvis Presley, who famously wore the watch on the set of Blue Hawaii, the watch still rocks that avant-garde, sci-fi chic that took the world by storm when it debuted. Of the three commemorative for the anniversary collection, we recommend that you go for the most coveted option – this skeletonised model with automatic movement inspired by Elvis’ microphone.

Longines Heritage 1945 – S$2,700

One can always count on Longines to release re-editions of its heritage timepieces that are packed with vintage verve yet reasonably easy on the wallet, and this year’s offering is a doozy. Essentially an update of a 1945 model, it sits easily on the right side of hipster chic with a convex brushed coppery dial, slender bluish steel hands, and beige nubuck strap. But make no mistake, this is a modern creation as its stainless steel case has been bumped up to 40mm and the original’s manual-winding calibre has been replaced with an automatic one with a 42-hour power reserve.

Aries Gold Inspire Gauntlet Vintage – S$399.70

This is the biggest steal of the lot – and you can get it right here at our online store! Unabashed self-promotion aside, this handsome option by Singapore-born Aries Gold gives you (or your dad, rather) plenty of bang for the buck. The timepiece brims with 1940s-style references, from its classic round case to its Clous de Paris dial decoration, with an open window that offers a peek into its automatic movement. And there are plenty of details to fawn over, too. The contrast between the chocolate dial and pink gold-plated case is simply gorgeous; while the whimsical number ‘8’ among the Roman indexes, which symbolises prosperity in Chinese numerology imbues the gift with extra meaning.

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Alvin promises not to be a douche when talking about watches. He may have scoured the Basel and Geneva watch fairs for the past 15 years, and played an instrumental role to the growth of Singapore's pioneering horological and men's lifestyle publications, but the intrepid scribe seeks to learn something new with each story he writes.